Recent Heavy Rains Won't Eliminate Drought In Kansas

Despite recent heavy rains across the state of Kansas, officials say the precipitation is likely not enough to end the drought.

Assistant State Climatologist Mary Knapp says Kansas has seen almost double what would be a normal amount of rain for the first part of June. But she says the rains won’t be enough to bring conditions back to normal, as the first five months of the year were very dry.

"We need these rains to continue for a prolonged period of time," says Knapp. "We didn't get into the drought in a month and we're not going to get out of it in a month either."

Knapp expects to see improvements across the state when an updated map of drought conditions is released later this week.